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As the town’s largest building, the inn was easy to spot. Andala steered Cricket closer to it, relieved to see light glowing in its windows. She could even hear some low chatter from within, the sound carrying easily on the still night air. Tethering Cricket to a post, Andala took a steadying breath and made her way inside.
The inn was brightly lit, and blessedly warm. A fire crackled welcomingly in the large hearth. It smelled of ale and roasting meat. There were a handful of people scattered about, some at tables, some seated before the bar in conversation with the innkeep. Every head turned towards Andala as she entered.
‘Hello,’ she said to the man behind the bar, forcing a note of confidence that she did not feel into her voice. ‘I wonder if I might have a room for the night.’
‘Ye’ll need to be clearer than that, love,’ came the innkeeper’s gruff reply. ‘If I agree to give ye a room for the night, it might never end and ye might never leave.’
This drew a few chuckles from the patrons. Andala did not find the remark amusing, but forced a stiff smile upon her face nonetheless.202‘Just for the next few hours, then. I only need to rest a while before I return to the road.’
‘The road?’ The innkeeper blinked at her a few times. ‘Where are ye going, love? The road ain’t safe out there, not in …’ He waved a hand vaguely towards the windows. ‘Whatever this is.’
Andala kept the smile plastered to her face, though it grew tighter by the second. ‘It’s only night,’ she said, trying to keep her tone light. ‘Those of us who need to travel can still do so in the dark.’
The innkeeper continued to regard her warily. She could feel the others’ eyes upon her too. Her calm veneer was beginning to slip. If she did not get away from them soon, she would surely scream.
‘Please,’ she added eventually, unsticking her gritted teeth. ‘I can pay. I’m just in need of some sleep.’
Finally, the man nodded, and reached below the bar for a key. Trying her best to ignore the rest of the still-staring patrons, Andala politely refused the innkeep’s offer of food and ale, requesting only that Cricket be seen to and stabled.
As she made her way up the rickety wooden staircase to her lodgings, she could not stop herself eavesdropping on the whispers of conversation that had resumed.
‘… heard the king is going to kill it.’
‘Killit? What good would that do? Then we’ll be stuck like this forever—’
‘No, no, not theskylark, you fool. The other one.’
‘The other one?’
‘The one what does the opposite. Sings to bring the darkness down of a night, or what have you.’
‘Aye … I’d forgot there was two. What’s that one called? I don’t remember its name—’203
‘Never mind its name. If he kills it like he says he will, the spell will be broken!’
Andala had paused on the stairs to listen, but now she had heard enough. She hastened to the end of the hallway to find her room. Fumbling with the key in the lock, she threw herself inside, slamming and locking the door behind her.
This was not a good sign. That people this far from the palace were talking about her – that peopleanywherewere talking about her – was the last thing she needed. And where had those rumours started, anyway? Who had been spreading word that the king planned tokillher? Andala knew how these things got distorted as they passed from ear to ear. But she also knew that there was usually some kernel of truth to that kind of talk, however deeply buried it may be.
Her breathing had grown fast and uneven. She forced herself to stand there until it slowed. Then, after lighting the candle the innkeep had given her, she undressed to her underclothes and crawled directly into bed, exhaustion dragging at her bones. The covers were surprisingly thick and warm. Perhaps she would sleep better than she had hoped.
The flame of the lone candle flickered beside her bed. Andala looked at it with tired eyes. Then she leaned over and blew it out, plunging the room into black.
She did not fear the darkness anymore. She merely despised it.
204
Chapter 28
The rest of the journey seemed to drag and pass too quickly at the same time. With only a few brief stops, Andala and Cricket made good time. Soon the scenery grew familiar. Dark as it still was, this place was imprinted upon her, childhood memories etched at every turn. There were the chestnut trees whose bounty she’d looked forward to collecting every autumn. There was the flat green field where she’d loved to play, running through the grass, soaking up the sun. The houses were spaced far apart here, so there had rarely been other children around. But Andala hadn’t minded that. She had been a solitary child, quite content in her own company, though she’d loved spending time with her parents, too, before it all went wrong.
She had run away the month after her father died. He’d been ill for a long time, so it had not come as a shock, but without him in the house, without his gentle presence to take the edge off the tension between her and her mother, Andala had not been able to stand it. That was ten years past now. She had been barely a young woman, only just fifteen. She had not returned since.
All too soon, the house came into view. Andala slowed Cricket. She felt peculiar, as if all her senses had sharpened. The cold sent rushes of goosebumps beneath her clothes. The scents of summer205still lingered in the air, anomalous with the growing chill. Even the starlight seemed brighter as it shone upon her childhood home.
She blinked, and they had rounded the bend; blinked again, and they were at the gate. Andala dismounted and tethered Cricket. Her heart was beating unpleasantly fast. Why had she come here? What had possessed her to think this was a good idea?
Oriane.YouneedhelpsavingOriane.
